Created by husband and wife team; Chris and Lindy Campbell, Sharkless is a small company with a big reach. Check out the timeline of our transformation from an idea to a networking website to a business!

2000 - Chris works a full time corporate job as a computer network administrator and Lindy is a full time graphic design college student. After a visit to Destin Florida with the family, they see a man being shot across the water at immense speeds by what appeared to be a parachute. They pause and watch what this is wondering if this was some home-made contraption.

Shortly after, they visit Saugatuck Drug Store in Michigan and pick up a Kiteboarding magazine. Oh, this is what that was called, "kiteboarding" or "kitesurfing". They start scheming on a way that they can afford this expensive sport (at the time it was!! But not anymore!)

2001 - Chris, Lindy, Shanna and Mikey devise a plan to get into the sport and bribe Shanna and Lindy's parents (they're sisters) into pitching in for one kite, a 16m Slingshot Fuel for the four of them to share. Excited about this new prospect to challenge themsleves, they the summer learning to kiteboarding. It looked a bit like “human bait fishing" (but at least it isn't the ocean!) They begin to realize the advantage of kiteboarding the Great Llakes – no giant fish (aka sharks) to eat people, no reefs, no salt water to sting our eyes. They wonder why more people don't kiteboard here.

2002 - Shanna comes up with the name “Sharkless” and buys the domain name sharkless.com. The original idea behind the site was to network kiteboarders and offer helpful resouces for kiteboarders and those interested in getting into the sport. (similar to what the Great Lakes Surf Association (GLSA) is for Surfers) They started a forum, local rider profiles, and hosted our first kiteboarding event.

The Sharkless crew spend numerous months passing around our one kite, slowly improving their kiteboarding skills. They plan for our first annual kiteboarding event “Sharkless Ice Kite” and it was a hit. Lindy's father, Mike DeVries (Little Oscar's Screen Prints littleoscars@hotmail.com) prints Sharkless's custom shirts and hoodies that were passed out. People start commenting on the name and the logo (everyone loves it!) The Sharkless crew just want other people to discover the same passion we have! People love our enthusiasm about the sport – this motivates them even more.

2002 - Lindy creates a kiteboarder's wife comic to express a wife's frustration with wind addiction (kiteboarding). The characters are based on her real life experiences with Chris. They both love kiteboarding and it becomes a competition over who gets to ride. Lindy didn't get much time to ride because Chris became a "wind hog."! The comic became Lindy's way to vent about it and people love it! It's sydicated internationally!

2003 - Chris and Mikey are the most determined to progress in kiteboarding. Chris purchases his first kite, a Naish, and for the first time, Mikey and Chris ride at the same time! (check the media section for video footage of this) This is when they started getting proficient!

Lindy is pregnant at the time, and they didn't make a harness with an open belly at the time, so she spend her time documenting kiteboarding via video and photos and publish it online. People see the videos and are excited to get into the sport. They email us questions all the time asking if we teach lessons. They begin to think about it.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Lindy and Chris's son is born. They begin to scheme ways to make him the youngest pro kiteboarder in the world!

2004 - When the tsunami hit in South East Asia, Lindy created a logo and sold t-shirts to aid the victims of the disaster. Sharkless.com became a portal for “Across All Boarders,” and we sold over 300 t-shirts worldwide. With the help of Best Kiteboarding's email newsletter the response increased. Sharkless wrote a big fat check to the Red Cross International Disaster Response thanks to all the kind people who bought a shirt!

Click the link below and add Across All Boarders on myspace!!

2005 - More and more people ask the Sharkless Crew if they sell gear. We begin to think we should. So we start dealerships with flexifoil and rrd among other kiteboarding companies. Chris trains to become an instructor. Mikey's son Erik begins kiteboarding and picks up regional sponsorship from Naish Kiteboarding. He's only 11.

When it's not windy the crew spends a lot of time skateboarding at South Haven's Skate Park. They watched kids break boards and lose parts, with no skate shop to replace the gear. The only solution was to travel out of town or buy their gear online. They start talking to the kids to see if they'd be interested in a skate shop in town. The response is surprising and the kids are excited at the prospect!

2006 - Sharkless becomes a brick and mortar shop! After long consideration and Lindy and Chris decide to make Sharkless a shop and "Sharkless Boardsports" is born. They opened up in May of 2006 in Old Harbor Village in South Haven, Michigan carrying a variety of all boardsports gear, and apparel. Located across from the entrance of the notorious “Idler Riverboat” they do extremely well their first season! Our PASA certified school hosts camps & private kiteboarding lessons all summer long and we teach more students that we could've ever imagined that season. We're excited to share our passion for kiteboarding with others!

Lindy and Chris begin to get to know the local skateboarders and are happy to give them something to do in South Haven. We take care of them by offering free tune ups, events (including their annual “Sharktoberfest” skate and kiteboarding competition.) After the competition, they pick the most talented kids and develop a "skate team." They have hundreds of friends under the age of 15 now! "That summer I counted and I gripped over 300 decks myself - and that's just me!" - Lindy

 

 

 

 


 

 

2007- After a very successful first year, Sharkless moved next to the popular Michigan Movie Theatre in Downtown South Haven and they expanded their brand selection. Chris leaves the corporate world and Sharkless becomes Lindy and Chris's full time job!

Sharkless is the only complete boardsports & surf apparel shop in 100 miles! Their selection includes skate, kiteboard, surf, wake, skim gear and a huge huge selection of brand name apparel including: Liquid Force, Best, RRD, Mystic, Crazyfly, Dakine, Reef, O'neill, Rip Curl, Sanuk, Volcom, Fox, Alpine Stars, Skull Candy, Surftech, Sticky Bumps and more.

With the help of their family (Mike, Mary, Shanna, Mikey and Erik) Lindy and Chris pour all of their energy, heart and passion into the shop. It's beautiful and people love it! They hire staff and they love their jobs! Scott "Gonz" Gondzar and Matt Balke join our team as kiteboarding instructors and camp coordinator. JC Neely joins our team as our go-to guy and assistant kiteboarding instructor. Together we plan week long exotic camps to destinations such as Brazil, Hattaras, South Padre Island as well as snow kiteboarding camps.

After seeing Tommy Fields talent on the water, they decide to bring on Tommy as a Liquid Force rider for Sharkless. Erik becomes a national rider for Naish Kiteboarding. He is the youngest rider on Naish's team now! (see some video of them in the media gallery)

With the help of local businesses and parents, Sharkless raised more than $20,000 to rebuild Waterfront Skate Park in South Haven. Lindy and Chris maintan a strong community involvement and have recently added an incentive program called "Karma's Army" that encourages kids to get active, get involved and make a difference.

"One of my friends once commented about kiteboarding “It's like fishing in the sky.” I agreed. I think that's what we were doing when we thought up our business, and surprisingly enough we caught a big one!" - Lindy